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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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FENWAY'S FIRST TEAM July 31, 1912 ... The Boston Red Sox were forced to play a perfect fielding game at Sportsman Park in St. Louis today, in order to win from the Browns by a score of 4 to 1, a wild throw by John Daley and a muffed fly by Willie Hogan allowing Boston to get their four runs. Hugh Bedient passed two men and was hit safely only five times, yet it was the superb all around work of the other Red Sox players that saved the day. Heinie Wagner played marvelously at shortstop, while Steve Yerkes and Jake Stahl got in some great plays themselves. The outfielders covered a lot of ground like a pack of greyhounds. It was by all odds the best fielding that the Sox have done since the Detroit series in Boston. The Browns sent in Willie Adams, a young pitcher unknown to Boston, who had fine command, great speed and worked smoothly, figuring the Boston players out nicely, and but for some miscues by his fielders, the one run scored off Bedient might have been enough to make things unpleasant for the visitors. With men at second and third in the first inning, Duffy Lewis hit one down to third base for a force out and Larry Gardner was thrown out at first. Stahl was at second, with no one out in the second inning but was able to go no further. Both teams scored in the third inning. Steve Yerkes got the first on Daley's high throw, went to second on a passed ball, to third on Speaker's out at first and scored on Duffy Lewis' long fly to center. For the Browns Willie Hogan led off with a walk, Charlie Snell was thrown out by Gardner and Adams was thrown out by Yerkes. Bert Shotton singled to score Hogan, but he was thrown out trying for second. The Red Sox could not get a man past second in the fourth and fifth inning. In the fourth for St. Louis, Jimmy Austin led off with a single but was thrown out trying to steal second, with Wagner making a great catch on Carrigan's throw. The next man singled and Bedient gave a free pass. Then he got down to business and struck out Gus Williams and got Daley on a fly to Harry Hooper. With one down the sixth, Larry Gardner started something with a sharp single to center. After Stahl was thrown out at first, Wagner worked a pass. Bill Carrigan stepped into one and banged it to left-center with Hogan chasing after the ball. Hogan reached to get it on the run but fumbled it and Gardner came over the plate with the go-ahead run. Bedient, who was in for two strikes, brought a cheer from the Boston bench with a nice single to left, scoring two men and the Red Sox players then seem satisfied that the game was theirs, up 4 to 1. Bedient settled down to his best work and held the home team to two singles in the last five innings. A nice double play on Speaker, after Yerkes had led off with a single, stopped the Red Sox chances for a run in the seventh. Both Carrigan and Yerkes wasted singles in the ninth-inning. Austin opened up the Browns last chance in the ninth, with a single. Del Pratt came up next and hit a fast grounder down to Yerkes, who tossed it over to Wagner at second and back to Stahl for a nice double play. The last man went down when Stahl made a nice long-range pickup of Gardner's wild throw. The crowd was strong in rooting for their home team, abusing the umpires and the Boston players, with President Ban Johnson very conspicuous in a front-row seat. Manager Stahl was taking no chances. He had Charley Hall warming up throughout the game, but Bedient was able to go the distance. |
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